Wellesley woman charged with driving at and striking state trooper

Tuesday

Mar 31, 2009 at 12:01 AMMar 31, 2009 at 4:49 AM

State police say a Wellesley woman tried to run down a police officer with her Mercedes after he attempted to write her a ticket at Logan Airport. The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said Margaret “Meg” Greer faces charges of assault and battery on a police officer, assault with a dangerous weapon and failure to stop for police.

Elana Zak/ Townsman staff

State police say a Wellesley woman tried to run down a police officer with her Mercedes after he attempted to write her a ticket at Logan Airport.

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said Margaret “Meg” Greer faces charges of assault and battery on a police officer, assault with a dangerous weapon and failure to stop for police. At her arraignment at East Boston District Court on March 30, Greer, 57, entered a plea of not guilty. She was released on her own recognizance.

Greer, a resident of Windsor Road, is a former member of the Wellesley School Committee.

“Ms. Greer is a highly respected member of the community and has pled not guilty to all of these allegations,” said Carol Starkey, Greer’s attorney. “We strongly contest the facts as they were presented by the commonwealth at yesterday’s arraignment. [We are] taking the allegations very seriously and are looking forward to presenting our side of the story in court.”

The incident began around 8:40 p.m. on Sunday, when a trooper directing traffic at Logan Airport noticed Greer’s gray Mercedes Benz ML320 idling at a bus lane near Terminal B, according to the district attorney’s press release. The trooper tried to get the car to move and Greer said she was waiting for her husband. Greer allegedly rolled up her window and ignored the trooper when he attempted a second time to have her move.

The trooper started to write Greer a ticket when she allegedly accelerated forward and to the left, hitting the trooper with her passenger side mirror. When Greer stopped for oncoming traffic, the trooper tried to order her out of the car, opening the driver’s side door. Greer allegedly drove forward, closing the door.

When Greer stopped for traffic a second time, the trooper walked to the front of the car and asked her to put the car in park. Instead, Greer allegedly accelerated toward the trooper, “forcing him to run backward for about 15 feet,” according to the press release. The trooper unsuccessfully tried to get Greer out of the car, but she then allegedly sped away, dragging the trooper a short distance.

“The trooper narrowly escaped physical injury and is unharmed,” said Jake Wark, a press secretary for the district attorney.

The trooper was able to send out the car’s description and plate number to other State police units. Greer was later stopped on the Mass Pike, near the Columbus Avenue overpass. She allegedly denied being at the airport that day. Greer allegedly said she was driving home from her job at Merrill Lynch in downtown Boston.

A Google search, however, listed Greer as a vice president of wealth management at Smith Barney. A secretary at Greer’s Waltham office said Greer still worked at Smith Barney and did not have any connection with Merrill Lynch.